


i'm dreaming (whether i'm right next to you, eighty miles away, or in between)

by sehoprint



Category: BLACKPINK (Band), EXO (Band), NCT (Band), Red Velvet (K-pop Band), TWICE (Band), 방탄소년단 | Bangtan Boys | BTS
Genre: Age Difference, Age Swap, Alternate Universe, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Drama & Romance, Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Forbidden Love, Hurt/Comfort, I have no idea, Kim Junmyeon | Suho is Whipped, M/M, Prince Kim Junmyeon | Suho, a lot of people call him kid/kiddo, but it's the longest fic i've ever written lol, but sehun is his guard, didn't know that was a tag, i hope you enjoy because this took me like a week to write even though its kinda short, is that all?, junmyeon is 19 and sehun is 23, junmyeon is just the baby of the castle basically, prince AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-28
Updated: 2019-06-28
Packaged: 2020-05-28 05:38:55
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,971
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19387612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sehoprint/pseuds/sehoprint
Summary: kim junmyeon is the prince who fell in love with his guard, oh sehun. he is also the boy who got his love taken from him when they got found out.akaa story of a forbidden love that made its way throughout the fire and made it out with no burns.





	i'm dreaming (whether i'm right next to you, eighty miles away, or in between)

**Author's Note:**

> the cooks in this story are in their early thirties, taking their parents jobs after they stepped down when junmyeon was around three or four, so each generation of royals has a different generation of cooks.
> 
> so basically, everyone is older than junmyeon and he is baby.
> 
> ! THIS IS TO KEEP TRACK OF EVERY UPDATE, IRRELEVANT TO STORY!  
> updated: friday, august 15, 2019 12:35  
> revision: fix minor errors and mistakes + reword weird sentences

and as they pulled sehun away, junmyeon’s body thrashes in the guards’ tight hold. he tries to break away, and run towards the love of his life.

he doesn’t stop pushing and pulling, even as sehun’s longing face gets harder and harder to see, and only gives up when he finally fades from view.

he collapses in his men’s hold, head down, body slumped, and tries to contain his sobs. he tries to ignore the feeling of everyone’s stares on him and the burning looks of pity and disappointment from his parents.

the guards finally release their hold on him, yet their presence is still by his side. he abruptly stands up and ignores the way the guards look ready to catch him as if he’d run away any second.

then he turns and walks away, head held down, dry tears on his face, and goes to his room.

it takes him much longer than usual to sleep without the warm body by his side.

~

the next day, he’s up early, staring at the moon and the stars still in the sky to accompany him. he’s up long before his parents knock on his door three hours later to talk.

“junmyeon,” his mother calls softly. “may we come in?” she finishes.

junmyeon doesn’t have it in him to respond, and after many seconds of waiting, he hears the door creak behind him.

he wants to shout that no, they’re not welcome in here, but part of him hopes that if he just obeys every other thing they expect of him, they’d just give sehun back to him and let him make _one_ decision by himself.

he’s still staring out the window by the time they walk over and sit on his large bed.

he remembers the nights he and sehun would talk, junmyeon laying on the other’s broad chest, wrapped in strong arms. he remembers the late-night talks and kisses him and the older would share, as if outside of his room, their love wasn't forbidden.

his thoughts are interrupted by his dad calling for him, and this time, he turns around to face his parents.

by the way his mother gasps, he can tell he doesn’t look good at all. since he fell asleep with dried tear tracks on his face late into the night and woke up early by the next day, he didn’t expect to either.

“son,” his mom started, looking deep into junmyeon’s eyes. the young prince stared back, emotionless, yet so sad and desperate at the same time. “about that boy...” she trailed off, clearly having no idea of what to say.

junmyeon didn’t give her time to find the right words and started talking. “‘that boy‘?“ he quoted. “you’re just going to call him ‘that boy’, when he was- no _is_ the love of my life and you just took him away from me?”

“ _junmyeon_ ,” his dad warned at the rise of his voice. “watch your tone when you speak to your mother.”

the brown haired boy scoffed. “fine, but don’t you dare call the love of my life just a boy, when he was all i ever had to myself that made happy. when he was one _only_ ones in this big, _stupid_ castle that wasn’t only worried about me being king, or how others saw me. the one only ones who knew me for just junmyeon, and dropped the stupid ‘prince’ others never had, and _still_ loved me back.”

his parents stared at him, and he stared back. the tension in the large room was overwhelming, and junmyeon waited for their next words.

“it’s not allowed, son,” his father started as if he didn’t know. “you and your guard being together is unacceptable.”

the young prince scoffed then spoke. “you say it as if i’m not aware.”

“then _why_ ,” his mother pleaded. “ _why_ would you fall for your guard.”

junmyeon gaped at his parents’ questioning faces.

they couldn’t be serious.

“as if i meant to,” he started sarcastically. “because yeah! i totally planned to fall in love with my guard _knowing_ that it wasn’t allowed, _knowing_ how much trouble we’d get in if caught, and most _definitely_ knowing that in a few years time, i’d be set up to marry another prince from a different kingdom. but yeah, i just _decided_ to fall in love with him.”

his parents sat at the edge of his bed stunned for a few seconds before recomposing themselves.

“we’ll come back when you don’t have such an attitude, _junmyeon_ ,” his father stiffly voiced, holding his hand out for his mother to take before walking out the door to his bedroom.

after he heard the door shut, the dark-haired prince flopped down on his bed, face in his pillow, and screamed.

~

that day, junmyeon was supposed to have etiquette training with his advisor, but he’d decided to skip out on it and stay in his room.

it wasn’t until the memories of the things he and sehun would do in there became unbearable that he left to wander the halls. yet all he could wonder of was sehun. where he was, how was doing(not very good, no doubt), what would happen to him, if they were punishing him, and so on.

he had stayed in his head for so long that he hadn’t realised that he had made his way to the castle’s garden.

he tried to suppress the memory of the one time that he and sehun were bold and decided to take the risk of sneaking out and ended up here, but everything reminded him of sehun regardless.

even the pink tulips reminded him of his soft, pink blush, and the roses reminding him of his deep, red one. the white daisies reminding him of the time he put them in the taller’s hair after a long day of bustling and preparation for an upcoming ball. and all in all, it was too hard to not think of the older wherever he went.

but junmyeon shook his head, trying to shake away all memories of sehun at the moment.

the dark haired boy sat down on the pearly, white bench near the fountain in the middle of the garden, staring at the flow of the water.

he told himself to shake away all thoughts of the man he loved, but he had nothing else on his mind, and his worry over their current situation made all other thoughts irrelevant.

sitting there, thinking only of sehun, he came up with a plan. he’d sneak into the castle’s dungeon for prisoners late at night, and try to sweet talk the guards down there to allow him to see the one he longed to see the most.

he could only hope that chanyeol and yixing were the ones guarding sehun tonight, as they were the ones with the biggest hearts, and had enough compassion for the whole world.

they had also told him of each of their own lovers a few times, and could only hope to sympathise with them on that note.

standing up from the beautiful bench, he made his way back to his chambers to wait for night to come.

~

the sky was painted various shades of pink, purple, and orange when the prince got tired of waiting. he also realised that he hadn’t eaten today, so to pass some time, he walked down to the large kitchen where the many cooks made large portions of food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

walking in, all eyes turned to him and he felt somewhat uncomfortable from being the target of so many stares from the men and women he’d learned to know and love. as the large double door behind him closed, he winced at the loud sound.

the prince used to come down here frequently when he was younger and had no responsibilities inside the castle, but had found it harder to make trips down here once he grew older and responsibilities piled up. he still found time to come down at least four times a month, but there were times when he wished that he could come back every day again, or even stay in the large kitchen forever.

even now, as all of the people who had always been behind him, and even held him when he was upset, angry, or just needed people to talk to, were staring at him as everyone else had in the past few days.

he had looked around the room at the familiar faces, and whispered a small, broken, “hi,” and at that, baekhyun sped forward, scooping him up in his arms.

junmyeon started crying at the familiar warmth, and the realisation that he still had baekhyun at least. his cries snapped everyone out of their initial shock, and before he knew it, he was surrounded by those he loved most in a big, group hug. he felt mina and sooyoung pat his head comfortingly, sometimes switching to rub his head and comb through his hair instead. he also felt someone(jimin, if the small hands were anything to go by) caressing his arms softly and carefully.

“it’s okay, sweetie,” seulgi comforted. “we’ll get him back for you,” she continued. he knew there was most likely nothing they could do, even though seokjin and jimin themselves were dating namjoon and yoongi, his parents’ advisors, it didn’t seem like they were ever going to let up any time soon.

he still smiled softly at the kind, comforting words. “thanks seulgi, but we both know that’s not going to happen.”

the said girl smiled softly and gave him a look of pity, patting him on the head in consolidation.

“we’re sorry about that kiddo,” yerim said.

junmyeon laughed softly. “it’s not your fault, no need to apologise.”

seokjin piped up at the excuse. “we raised you so well,” he cooed, punching junmyeon’s cheeks before ruffling his hair. the prince giggled at the affection, and jokingly pushed the older’s hands away.

it was true though. the cooks in the kitchen acted as his fairy godparents in the way that they supported him in every decision he made, making sure to advise him when he needed help. they were the ones that taught him kindness and compassion. they taught him that a family didn’t have to be just his mother and father, but could also be forty-something people that that had no relation at all to each other.

the cooks had backed away by now, but still surrounded him and he looked around the circle he was encased in. “i love you guys,” he voiced, looking at his family.

at the young prince’s words, another large hug ensued.

“we love you too, kiddo.”

~

by the time that junmyeon had gotten back to his room after eating and chatting with the cooks, it was dark out. he took that as a sign to change into darker clothes.

in the castle, he was allowed to relax his choices of clothing, so he put on a pair of black jeans, and a basic black shirt to match. tucking in his shirt into his jeans, he made his way out of his door, and down to the castle dungeon.

~

junmyeon had to make sure that nobody would see him as he snuck to the castle dungeon, all while trying to find an excuse if chanyeol or yixing hadn’t been the ones guarding down there tonight.

before he knew it, he was standing in front of the double door leading to where he hoped sehun was.

he gently pushed the heavy, mahogany right door, careful to make as least noise as possible.

junmyeon walked down the stairs and was greeted with the sight of another, significantly smaller door(though that wasn’t saying much, as the other doors were abnormally huge).

he grasped the doorknob, turning it and pushing it open. walking down the long corridor of empty cells, the prince’s anticipation and nervousness only increased with every step.

he finally saw movement in the form of three small specks somewhere ahead of him that he can only hope to be chanyeol, yixing and sehun.

as he gets closer, junmyeon lets out a breath he wasn’t even aware he was holding, and all of a sudden the burning in his lungs, chest and throat made sense, but there in front of him was sehun casually talking to yixing and chanyeol as if he wasn’t in a fucking dungeon for being caught with junmyeon. as if everything was fine and they were talking about the weather(which he was sure sehun could tell nothing of by the way that the dungeon was only lit by multiple small, flickering candles).

chanyeol saw him first, mouth forming into an ‘o’ in shock, and tapped sehun on the shoulder through the bars of the cell. sehun looked up from where he was leaning on the rusty bars.

it was like time slowed as sehun looked up, finally stopping at their eyes met.

getting over his shock at _actually_ seeing his boyfriend after what felt like _years_ (it was only a day, but circumstances were demanding, so you couldn’t really blame him), he ran to the cell that sehun was locked in, to find the pleasant surprise that it wasn’t really locked as he broke past the door and into sehun’s arms.

“i told you he’d sneak his way down,” the tall brunet started. “he loves me too much to not to, and i love him too much to not know him.”

looking up, junmyeon pushed himself away from the taller’s chest to look at him.

“i missed you,” the dark-haired male pouted. “and was worried about you, yet here you are betting on my kindness and love for you,” he joked.

“no baby, it’s just that i know you so well- which is great! don’t get me wrong,” the brunet defends. the prince only pushed his face back in his lover’s chest, breathing in the faint scent of oranges and vanilla that the taller always emitted.

sehun kisses the top of his head in response to the action. “i missed you too,” he whispered into junmyeon's head of dark hair, and junmyeon only smiles at the words.

~

it was late when junmyeon got back to his room. he and sehun had exchanged many words and kisses before the prince had to leave.

chanyeol and yixing made sure to inform him that they’d be guarding sehun from here on out until his parents decided what to do with him.

that gave junmyeon both a sense of comfort and worry. comfort that he’d be able to see the taller as much as he wanted, and worry at what would happen once his parents found out what to do with him.

shaking off the bad feeling, junmyeon walked into the spacious bathroom conjoined to his bedroom to shower and change into his night clothes after.

moments later, the prince was laid down on his large, empty bed, staring up at his white ceiling. he thought about how soft sehun’s lips felt, how warm his arms were, and how comforting it was to be in them again. it had only been a day since he’d been taken down to the dungeon, but it felt weird to not have the taller sneaking into his room late into the night.

he went to sleep far easier that night, even with a small smile plastered on his face, thoughts and memories replaying throughout the night, and into his dreams.

~

the next few days passed in a similar fashion and it had been two and a half weeks of junmyeon sneaking down to see his lover each night.

until one day junmyeon had gotten back from etiquette class and had gone into the kitchen, did things start going downhill.

“junmyeon!” baekhyun shouted at the prince as he entered. all of the cooks snapped their heads up and the small boy could tell that something was wrong.

his steps slowed as he got closer to the frantic, worried looks of the people around him. “yes...?” he trailed off in confusion.

baekhyun pulled him closer by the arm and started speaking. “namjoon told hoseok who then told yixing, who told chanyeol, who then told _me_ that your parents finally found out what to do with sehun!” he explained.

the prince froze at the words. “really?” he questioned. “oh my god,” he breathed out in panic.

“yes, they said that in two days time, they’re going to send him to another kingdom far away from ours and prohibit him from ever coming back and seeing you,” the cook said.

“really?” he asked as if he hoped the other boy was joking. he looked around at the other chefs in the kitchen and his eyes found seokjin‘s and jimin’s.

the two nodded reluctantly, as they had wished it wasn’t true as well.

"yoongi and namjoon tried to convince your parents not to, but they decided to anyways," seokjin whispered.

junmyeon only turned around and abruptly made his way out of the kitchen, tears threatening to fall from his eyes.

~

the prince was out of breath from all of the running he did to make his way down to sehun.

there, he found him with chanyeol and yixing as expected, and pushed his way through the cage door.

when sehun's arms finally wrapped around him, the tears finally fell, and his chest heaved up and down. his lungs burned from the constant running, and the intense sobbing. "they're going to take you away from me," he cried. "they can't-" a hiccup interrupted his words. "they can't do that. it's not fair!" he yelled, voice muffled by the other's chest.

sehun rubbed his back in consolidation and comfort. "i know baby," he started. "i know, i know." the older kissed the top of his lover's head. "don't worry, it'll be okay."

junmyeon scoffed in response. "how sehun? how? because my parents are going to ship you off somewhere far away and i'll never be able to see you again!" the prince yelled in frustration in anger.

sehun didn't flinch away from the younger, but instead pulled him closer to his chest. "i don't know how, but we'll find a way."

the dark haired male stepped back from the other to look up at him. "let's run away," he blurted without thinking. the taller blinked in shock.

"what?"

junmyeon paused, trying to collect his thoughts. "let's run away," he repeated. "we can go somewhere far away. where my parents will never be able to find us, and we can stay there until we grow old together."

sehun's features softened. "jun, are you sure you want this?" he clarified. "this isn't just some impulse decision that doesn't matter, junmyeon. you’re gonna have to live with this for the rest of your life,” he sternly explained. of course he wanted to be with junmyeon, but the older had a life that he shouldn’t just leave behind for him.

“of course i’m sure,” the prince replied. “i love you, and i know that you love me. as long as we have hope and each other, everything will be alright.”

the taller male pressed his lips to the other’s, and kissed him softly. “if you’re sure.”

“one hundred per cent sure.”

~

they spent the rest of the night coming up with a plan to break out of the castle and make it somewhere far away.

they only had two days to make it out, so they had to be quick.

that night at dinner with his family, he pretended that everything was normal, like he wasn’t heartbroken over sehun, just talking to his mother and father who had no clue that he’d be gone by tomorrow morning.

living as a prince, junmyeon had access to a lot of things, and money was no exception. he was sure he had saved up enough to last him a lifetime, as he never really spent much. why would he have to when he was a prince after all?

he planned to use this money to have him and sehun live comfortably wherever they decided to reside, or even if they just decided to spend the rest of their lives travelling in and out of countries and their cities.

he liked any choice as long as it came with sehun by his side.

the first thing junmyeon did after leaving dinner was make his way straight to the kitchens. he wanted to properly say goodbye to those who raised him and taught him to be who he currently was. and though it’d be bittersweet, they deserved a goodbye, and he deserved the right to deliver one.

walking slowly to where he knew the cooks would be, he pondered. he thought about how much he’d miss them, and how this may be the last time he’d ever see them again. that thought scared him, but the thought of losing sehun forever scared him even more.

before he knew it, he was in front of the two wide mahogany doors that stood tall. he slowly pushed open the right one with both hands because of how heavy it was. the door creaked, and he was inside the kitchen, being faced with those he loved most.

“hello,” he whispered, reminded of the first time he stumbled into the large room where his food was prepared. he remembered the small kid, hope and wonder shown in his eyes, staring up at all of the people who he had no clue would become his family. “i just wanted to say goodbye,” he started. all of the cooks shared looks of confusion, so the prince further explained himself. “sehun and i are running away together. y’know, like in the movies,” he chuckled, trying to lift the mood. nayeon stepped out from the crowd of chefs to hug him tight.

“we’re going to miss you,” she said into his chest, being shorter than him. joohyun also stepped forward.

“we should’ve seen it coming, kid. we all know you’re whipped for that boy,” she laughed, reaching out to ruffle his hair.

the whole bunch of cooks stepped formed to form a group hug. “is it just me, or does it feel like we’ve been doing a lot of these lately,” kyungsoo pointed out. junmyeon laughed and realised that he was right.

“maybe because i just keep loving you guys more and more every day, and i just can’t resist hugging you,” he joked. “especially you, soo. even though you try to pretend you don’t, we both know you’re just as whipped for me as much as i am for you.”

the said male only blushed and looked away from the prince, but junmyeon still felt the way that his hold on him tightened. "don't get too lovey-dovey on him, jun. jongin might bite you or something," jimin joked.

a few moments later of hugging, everyone stepped away from each other. “i’m just really going to miss you all,” the dark-haired boy pouted.

“we’ll miss you too,” seokjin said. “i can’t believe that after all of this time of raising you into the great young man you are today, we’re going to have to let you go,” he finished, pinching junmyeon’s cheeks.

“we’ve even been there through your hormonal, teenage years,” jisoo and baekhyun cooed pinching his cheeks as well.

“aww, remember when he’d storm in and out of here because he was going through puberty and was all hormonal and angry at the world!” joohyun squealed as she ruffled his hair. junmyeon blushed at the words and coos, gently and joking pushing the intruding hands off of him.

“let’s please not bring that up, it was only a few years ago, and i’m still embarrassed about it.”

they spent the night recalling memories and saying their goodbyes, and all of a sudden, leaving didn’t seem so scary.

~

hours later, junmyeon still had around two hours to say his goodbyes. with that, he moved to where he hoped his dance instructor was.

~

he was standing outside of the door to the ballroom where he’d practice all types of dance that a prince needed to know.

junmyeon turned the knob and pushed the door open to reveal hoseok dancing in the middle of the spacious room.

the man paused his music and turned around at the sound of the door creaking.

“long time no see, prince junmyeon,” the red hair male greeted.

“oh come on hobi, lay off the formality,” the prince whined, nose scrunching in distaste up at the title.

“i’m only joking, jun!” the taller joked.

“yeah, yeah, yeah,” junmyeon laughed.

once their laughter died down, hoseok spoke. “is there a reason you came to see me?” the dancer asked.

junmyeon suddenly remembered just why he was here to begin with. “oh yeah, i have to tell you something,” he started. “big news actually...” he trailed off.

hoseok looked at him. “you’re running away with sehun, i presume,” he stated.

the prince gaped at the older male. “h- how...? how did you know?” he stuttered.

“c’mon jun, i like to pride myself on being one of the people who know you best,” he started. “i’ve seen you cry, yell, laugh, get frustrated, smile. _all_ because i got the opportunity to teach you dances that you thought you’d never be able to get, or the ones you’ve brushed past easily. i’ve seen you at your highest, your lowest, and your middle grounds all since you were seven. after all that, i think that i’m pretty good at being able to predict your entire future and recount your whole past.”

junmyeon only rushed in to hug the dancer. “i’m going to miss you,” he sniffled into the other’s chest.

“me too, kiddo,” the older comforted. junmyeon heard that a lot today, but that never made it easier to hear.

“you and yixing take care of each other for me,” junmyeon requested after he moved back from the red-haired male.

“don’t you worry kid. we will.”

~

next was johnny. he was the only few people who were actually _somewhat_ close to his age. he was only a year older than sehun, being twenty-four, and he was junmyeon’s own advisor.

he found him in his office where he worked on whatever he had to regarding the castle and junmyeon.

he looked up as junmyeon walked in.

“what can i do for you, prince junmyeon?” he questioned as the younger walked in.

“how many times have i told you to drop the prince, johnny,” junmyeon joked.

“no can do, sir,” johnny replied, a small smile on his face.

“i have something to tell you,” he started.

“and i think it’s only right to tell you. since you _are_ my advisor and all...”

“go on,” johnny encouraged.

the prince winced as he thought of a way to word his news to the other. “i...” he trailed off. “i may never see you again after tonight.”

johnny took his glasses off of his face and gently placed them on his wide desk. “and why is that?” he questioned.

“i’m leaving the castle with sehun tonight, and i’d really appreciate it if you didn’t tell my parents. i know it’s hard and all, being a royal advisor, but i can’t stay in a place where i can’t love who i want. it’s not fair to me, y’know-“

junmyeon was cut off by the older’s words. “don’t worry about it junmyeon,” he said, and junmyeon gaped in shock at the absence of the prince title. “i understand completely. i see my advising has done its job, as all i wanted for you was to be able to speak up and act for you and your opinions and beliefs as a king, and though you may never be king, i am glad to see the person you have come today.”

junmyeon tears up at the sincere words. “you’re only five years older than me, johnny. how did you get so wise,” he joked.

“dealing with a ruly thirteen year old prince at the mere age of eighteen often does do that to you.”

junmyeon walked towards the man’s desk as he stood up and moved to hug him.

“i’m going to miss you, kiddo,” his advisor states as he holds him in his arms.

“i’ll miss you too, old man,” he joked in the other’s hold.

~

it was time.

it was time.

it was time.

it was _really_ time.

time for junmyeon to leave this castle and never look back. he had gotten all of his goodbyes out of the way, and packed all of his bags filled with everything he needed(which didn’t happen to be much), he made sure to check twice for the gift of a small, grey bunny rabbit he’d been gifted by his parents on his fifth birthday.

the plan was to go to the garden, climb up the walls, weave their way through all of the guards placed outside of the castle, and make their way towards freedom. hand in hand.

he thought he was ready, but right now, standing inside the large garden, sehun beside him, he felt too scared to leave the place he called home for his whole life.

“are you sure you want to do this, jun?” the taller asked. “we can turn back now and pretend this never happened, y’know?”

“yes, i know, but i’m just scared. not unsure, just scared,” the younger clarified.

it was late out and their only source of light was the moon and the starts that reflected onto the water of the fountain and into the pond.

“it’s okay jun, we got this,” sehun comforted, kissing the top of the smaller’s head.

“okay, okay,” junmyeon breathed out. “we got this,” he repeated before pulling the taller into a passionate kiss by his shirt.

_“we got this.”_

**Author's Note:**

> this is my longest fic yet and it took me about a week to write and edit it. i'll stick to my shorter ones with like 550-3,440 words lol
> 
> also this fic is called i'm dreaming because it reminded me of she's dreaming and how it's about dreaming of someone you can't be with. also she's dreaming is one of my favourite exo songs.


End file.
